Keegan Garner in 2007 after his book, “Tales From My High School Locker: Diary of a Class Clown,” was published. Now 34 years old and sporting short hair, Garner was sentenced Friday to 2 1/2 years in prison for embezzling $1.5 million from Denison Yacht Sales. (Tim Stepien / The Palm Beach Post)

Class clown to convict: Gardens man admits to embezzling $1.5 million

A decade ago, Keegan Garner was accepting plaudits for a humorous book he wrote about his high school escapades, was working as a stand-up comic and dreamed of snaring a gig on the Late Show with David Letterman.

On Friday, the 34-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for embezzling $1.5 million while working as a vice president of sales in the Gardens office of Denison Yacht Sales, a company owned by a friend.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra rejected defense attorney Jack Goldberger’s request to place Garner on house arrest so the father of two could earn money, repay the yacht broker, support his children and continue to get help to overcome his addictions to gambling and alcohol.

“If people know you can steal $1.5 million and get probation, you’re sending a message to the public, ‘Go for it. What do you have to lose?’” Marra said, rejecting the plea for leniency. He also ordered Garner to repay the company.

The only concessions Marra made were to let Garner remain free on a $50,000 bond until Aug. 1 when he must turn himself in to begin serving the 30-month sentence and to allow him to move to Fort Myers to live with his mother and father, a doctor, in the meantime.

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After Marra announced his decision, Garner hugged his parents and Robert Denison, president of the family-owned Dania Beach-based yacht company who watched the proceedings without making a comment.

After the hearing, Denison said he harbors no animosity toward Garner. “I wanted to make sure he knew I don’t hold any ill-will or hold it against him in any way,” Denison said.

Goldberger insisted Garner’s actions were at odds with both his upbringing and his character. Diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder as a child, Garner turned to gambling and alcohol as an adult and couldn’t break himself from their allure, he said.

He began drinking and gambling heavily. “He started taking money from his boss and, like a lot of people, said, ‘I’m going to make it up,’” Goldberger said. “But, of course, it snowballs. He couldn’t make it up.”

When Denison discovered in March 2017 that for three years Garner had been moving money from the company’s escrow accounts into his personal bank accounts, Garner tried to “make things right,” Goldberger said. He gave Denison checks for $38,000 and the title to his 1959 vintage Ford pickup. Garner pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in February.

But, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne Rabinowitz said, since making the initial payments, Garner hasn’t repaid Denison any more money even though he has been working for his girlfriend’s roofing company. She rejected the notion that OCD propelled Garner’s misdeeds.

“I don’t believe OCD had anything to do with it,” said Rabinowitz, who pushed for a 3-year sentence. “This was a well thought-out plan and he did it because he could do it. Because he had the trust of the owner of the business, who was his friend.”

Rabinowitz’s harsh assessment of Garner is in stark contrast to how he portrayed himself in his 2007 book “Tales From My High School Locker: Diary of a Class Clown.” In the book, he recounted the pranks he played in high school, describing himself as a lovable goofball.

Then a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University who was dabbling in stand up comedy, Garner told the The Palm Beach Post he hoped to convince David Letterman to book him on his late night show. But, he said, even if those efforts failed: “I’ll do all right. I’m not worried about that. Even goofballs can be successful.”

On Friday, he returned to that theme.

He told Marra he had learned from his mistakes. “I’m devoted to spending every minute becoming a better man, a better son, a better father, a better member of society,” he said. “In the future, I’m going to make a big, big difference not just in my life but in a lot of people’s lives.”